Behind the scenes of Anomalisa, this year's unlikeliest Oscar contender

Updated 5:58 AM ET, Fri December 2, 2016

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Photos:Intense film hours and a love scene that took four months to shoot

Michael Stone, the disillusioned protagonist of "Anomalisa," is the brainchild of writer and co-director Charlie Kaufman, writer of "Synecdoche, New York" and "Being John Malkovich".

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Photos:Intense film hours and a love scene that took four months to shoot

Voiced by David Thewlis, the animators at Starburns Industries took years to bring Michael to life, using thousands of 3D-printed faces to mimic every conceivable expression.

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Photos:Intense film hours and a love scene that took four months to shoot

Animation supervisor Dan Driscoll told CNN that the printer would be on constantly, churning out silicon components. Aside from Michael and Lisa, every other character has the same face -- a conscious choice by Kaufman and his team. The face itself was a digital amalgam of Starburns Industries employees.

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Photos:Intense film hours and a love scene that took four months to shoot

Using stop-motion, animators would average approximately two and a half seconds of footage in a 10 hour day.

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Photos:Intense film hours and a love scene that took four months to shoot

Co-director & co-producer Duke Johnson lines up a shot on set. Driscoll says that with the rise of digital technology, stop-motion animation is becoming a lot more accessible and affordable.

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Photos:Intense film hours and a love scene that took four months to shoot

The many faces of Michael Stone. Driscoll was keen to avoid what's known in the industry as "the uncanny valley" -- when a animated character looks too lifelike, normally an eerie and disconcerting effect.

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Photos:Intense film hours and a love scene that took four months to shoot

Photos:Intense film hours and a love scene that took four months to shoot

Many of the team at Starburns Industries had come to "Anomalisa" from lighthearted programs such as "Robot Chicken." Kaufman's film was "so emotionally heavy" in contrast, says Driscoll. "It was quite a challenge to wrap our brains around how we were going to accomplish this thing."

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Photos:Intense film hours and a love scene that took four months to shoot

Animator Dan Mackenzie on the set of "Anomalisa." Driscoll says that because of the Californian heat in the studio, sets would often expand and contract, meaning crews would have to wait for the same conditions to restart filming, otherwise the shot failed to align.

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Photos:Intense film hours and a love scene that took four months to shoot

Crucial to the film was the bedroom scene between Michael and Lisa. It took months just to prepare for the shoot according to Driscoll, arguing the preparation was so that they could achieve "this tender, loving moment between two as close as you can approximate human beings," rather than stray down the "Team America" route. At times Driscoll says that the animators would manage only 12 shots in a single day, testament to the intricacy of the scene, which took four months to capture.